All this is the equivalent of Say Yes to the Dress for men. I've grown to hate both equally.
So let's take a look at where we stand at the moment after an absolutely insane Tuesday. Chances that everything below is obsolete at the moment you're reading it: 73%.
--The Big East powers that be met in New York Tuesday night, and commish John Marinatto ended the evening saying that each current member has pledged to remain in the conference and the league is still in tact. He added that the conference is aggressively pursuing football-only replacements for Pittsburgh and Syracuse. The most likely candidates for those spots are reportedly Navy, Air Force and Army. Central Florida and East Carolina appear to be candidates for a second tier of expansion.
--The Pac-12 leaders also discussed matters Tuesday night, and left agreeing that the league was no longer looking to expand. This news coming hours after Oklahoma announced that it would be staying in the Big 12...so long as its lengthy lists of demands is met (God, this is all so depressing).
--The Pac-12 news means that the Big 12 will likely stick together, with the potential exception of Missouri, who was offered by the SEC, not offered by the SEC, and in an agreement to join the SEC according to different sources throughout the course of Tuesday. If the Tigers do join the SEC, it will push Auburn over to he SEC East, which means we might never have the privilege of seeing Kentucky in the Music City Bowl again.
--There were also reports of the six basketball-playing private schools in the Big East (Notre Dame excluded) looking to join up with a group of A-10 schools that included UMass, Rhode Island, Dayton, Xavier, and then potentially some additions from the CAA (George Mason, VCU). Marinatto, however, claims that the basketball schools have also pledged to stand firm in their allegiance to the Big East.
So that's where we stand. Everything's calm, the shoes have stopped dropping and things are finally close to being set in stone.
Except they're totally not and everyone knows it.
Minutes after Marinatto's statement was made there were reporters claiming to have sources saying nothing had changed with Connecticut, and that the school's leaders were still actively pursuing a spot in the ACC. There have also been several other reports claiming that a handful of Big East schools (including Louisville) are still candidates to make the jump to an expanded Big 12.
The next move is likely the Big 12 inviting BYU into the fold, but the big question is whether or not they stop there. If they don't, the likely candidates will come from the Big East, and then we're back to all hell breaking loose.
As far as Louisville is concerned, it appears there are now just two options: 1) A slightly weakened Big East or 2) A pretty strong (in both sports) Big 12.
It's certainly light years better than the situation appeared a couple of days ago.
If you've been following, then get ready to keep following because there's no way this is the end. And if you've been ignoring, I'll be sure to wake you up when it's over and maybe fill you in on all the hot spots in Ames (great movie theater).